1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for shielding instruments in an aircraft cockpit control panel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous aircraft, especially smaller, private aircraft, must frequently be left in unattended ground storage locations when not in use. Some private aircraft are left in unattended hangers while others are stored at airport tiedown locations without any structure about them.
Even the smallest aircraft currently flown include sophisticated electronic-instruments which are mounted in the cockpits of the aircraft in an instrument control panel. The control panel is located immediately below the aircraft windshield so as to provide maximum visibility of the instruments to a pilot and copilot. The seats for the pilot and copilot are positioned a short distance to the rear of the control panel in the aircraft cockpit. The steering controls for both the pilot and copilot positions include a steering column that projects rearwardly from the aircraft instrument control panel a short distance. The steering columns are connected to a steering yoke having handgrips that are held laterally spaced from each other on opposite sides of the steering column.
While in the early days of powered flight the instruments employed in aircraft control panels were relatively unsophisticated and not particularly expensive, over the years a multitude of different complex instruments have been developed for use in manned flight of even small aircraft. The instruments have added considerably to the flying capability and safety of aircraft. However, with increased sophistication of instrumentation, the cost and value of the instruments mounted in even small, private aircraft control panel have escalated.
With the increased number and value of the different aircraft flight instruments now used in private aircraft, aircraft instrumentation has become an increasingly attractive target for thievery. While the cockpit doors of private aircraft are equipped with locks, the types of locks employed for this purpose are quite insecure. Thus, it is a relatively easy matter for an accomplished thief to pick or break the lock of an aircraft cockpit door, enter the cockpit, and remove and steal flight instruments from the aircraft cockpit control panel. Each one of these instruments typically has a value on the order of $500.00, so that the loss of even a single instrument to the aircraft owner is not a trivial matter. Moreover, when a thief does break into an airplane cockpit, the thief will normally take as many of the most expensive instruments as possible. The total value of such instruments in a small, private aircraft is typically between about $3,000.00 and $10,000.00.